He twisted the edge of his nail and flicked off my hand, then set off toward the stairs to the loft without a word. I ran after him, catching up as his boot hit the bottom stair. He didn’t once look back to see if I had followed, and still I chased behind. He opened the door to the play loft and stepped to the side, slamming it closed as soon as I’d crossed the threshold.
“What’s your safeword?” Ronan asked.
“Stop.” I huffed out a quiet breath. The fact we’d never had a safeword seemed like an oversight now because like this, Ronan was more intimidating than he’d ever been.
“That’ll work,” he said, locking the door and stepping closer. “For now.”
“Ronan.”
“Hmn?”
I could feel the heat of him radiating against my back, he was so close to me.
“I’m going to touch you now.” Ronan’s words landed hot against the back of my neck. “And I’m not going to stop until you tell me to.”
“Yes, Ronan.”
He grabbed me by the back of the neck, his strong and talented fingers pulling me until my spine was as straight as my cock. I tried to focus on my breathing, tried to stay calm and remember that I trusted the man behind me.
But did I really?
In this room, in this moment, I wasn’t even sure I knew him.
Ronan didn’t move. His fingers didn’t even twitch against me. He held us both there, frozen in place. I didn’t know if my heart was going to return to normal or slam out of my chest and shatter my ribs at our feet.
After what felt like a lifetime, he gave me a shove forward, walking me toward the wall. I bumped it, and he kept going. He shoved me against the wall, smashing my cheek until my lips puckered and my mouth opened for air. With his other hand, Ronan reached around the front of me, working open my belt and fly. My pants slid down my legs and he slipped his hand behind the waistband of my briefs, taking my erection in his hand.
“This won’t do,” he rasped, giving me a squeeze.
He let go of me, but I didn’t dare move.
“Did you know,” Ronan said conversationally. I listened to him rustle around in the armoire at the other end of the room and come back to where I was pressed against the wall. “I haven’t been in this room for a year.”
I didn’t speak.
“I pissed on a man in this room. I made him come so many times I had to write them on his skin so I didn’t lose track.”
I closed my eyes, remembering.
“I don’t think I’m going to make you come at all,” he said.
I inhaled sharply.
“Take off your clothes and brace your hands against the wall. You want to hurt? I’ll fucking hurt you.”
I scrambled to strip out of my clothes and do as he said. Hesitating after I removed the shirt to reveal the harness. Behind me, Ronan made a pleased sound.
“That too,” he said, finger flicking against the leather, “as much as it pains me to lose a handle on you. I have plans for all this skin.”
I pulled it off, and as soon as my palms landed against the wall, a flogger landed against my back. It was a serious strike, not a warm up, and the thud of the falls knocked the breath out of me. Then Ronan swung again, and again, until my back throbbed and ached from the hits.
Nothing had felt so good in so, so long.
Between my legs, my cock leaked. I wouldn’t have been surprised to find a pool of precum on the floor, but I didn’t look. I closed my eyes and let the erratic swing of Ronan’s flogger send me to another place entirely.
“Do you need a break?” he asked, dropping the flogger at his feet.
“No,” I murmured.
